Electrically actuated out-of-door speaker



March 2, 1954 i. M. BROWN 2,670,807 ELECTRICALLY ACTUATED OUTOF`DOOR SPEAKER Filed Jan. 14, 1952 v sa '36 2e a4 4 76 da HW '4o\ se 74 E 6 l E' 84 62 /54 ze az ,-56 .sa 6.a so 7o "fg 15e as 58 I go 4a so 5a s4 4a` u F39. i iw 6 JNI/ENToR. 46 2 M 3.a BY l( ,da l l Sip-1 1 .-.5 i @au V l i Ilo MLfBri/iwrQninalia,NebrvrassignortoThe Bal-Y f, f i* flarlityne Company, Omaha; Nehrlfafcorprationc This invention relatesvtoloud speakers such aselixsed in ioutf-of-door installations, andj, particularlyopen airfniovinglpicture Vtheatres where the "speakers ar"sub ject`ed to extreme weather conditions,"l and iniparticular Athis inventionl provides a"protective` "espaced outwardly yfrom f c n ,jsealed 'relationgwitn the conventional cone fof Qthespeakerfwhereby the Iconventional co'nejris" protected 'andjy wherein the outergcone is readily'replaceable.' l l The purpose of thi'si vention'isto extend the life of cones'pf loud speakers of outside installa'- tijon's Vwlueife themconyentional paper cones .are subjected to atmospheric conditions'. y "In openair theatres -where' patrons are distributed over a comparatively wide varea it is cus'tomary'to provide individual speakers on posts and although these speakers are substantially enclosedjin a vhousing with'a grille and' louvers overlthe cone the coneis subjected to moisture and temperature changeswhereby efiicientf'op'erationoi the speakeris limited to a comparatively sl'ortlperiod of time. fi" fffVaious attempts Yhave been made to protect the paperrcones inwspeakers for thisusejsuch asjstretching membranes across Athev base of the s`pfeal{er,however, such expedients cause' distorl tions injthe' soundproducedv a loss`of delity, and generalflowering of eiciency; With` this thought in mindthis invention contemplates a spe'aker of the type having a paper'cone therein, enclosed in Ia housing and having `ra protecting cnresubstantially'of the saine shape as the paper cone andsspaced'therefrom,positioned in front of the conventional cone; whereby with the 'area between the cones sealed and with the protecting conehaving grooves and a hinge corresponding with similar-elements of the conventionalcone theprotecting cone vvibrates with the conventional cone and substantially Vthe same sound Waveslare emitted therefrom.y --The object of thisinvention is,- thereioreyto provide means for-'protecting the coneof aloud speakerv unit from atmospheric conditions and the elementsA without impairing vthe speaker'.vv

Another object of the inventinis to provide a protecting shield for cones *of loudspeaker unitsin which the shieldmay readily be removed andi/replaced. 7

.L A further object' of the in'ventionjiste-pro-4 vide aprotecting conefor convntinalconesfof loudspeaker units protect the conventional cone :from .changes in atmospheric conditions thatmay be installed loud speaker units .with-5V out materially.changing ,theunits.g-

pf- A-still Vfurtherv object ofthe invention iste provide aloud speaker, unit. foroutside :installa--y tion in .whichthe cone thereoflisrrotectedqftom the weather with any outershieldingj ,con which the unit is of asimple andecond A construction. 1 i With these and otherpobjects and advantages in View the invention embodies aloud. speaker cone in combination with .a voiceY lcoiL. a Vtraine in which the parts `are mounted, a disc positioned over an opening in the center of the con@ and a protecting cone ofthe same configurationas the former conermounted in the frame and spaced from the former vcone.V l Y t l y .n

Other features and advantages of theiinvenr. tion. will appear from the followingdescription taken in connection with the drawingwhein Figure l is a front elevational viewer aile d speaker unit adapted foroutside installations with. parts vbroken awayshowing thel conven-v tionalcone behind the protectingfcone,v e

`Figure 2k is an end elevationallview also :with parts broken away and with parts shown in sec: tion.

igure'is a sectional plan taken online v3 3'1 of Figure 2 showing the speaker cone, protecting. cone, frame, and mountingelements.

Figure 4 Shows a typical speaker. t

Referring now to the drawing wherein .like reference characters denote'correspond'ing parts the protected loud speaker unit of vthis invent'iiry includes a housing having a lvfrort section Il'lif'a base section l2; anda frame I'fltv'vth'which'f a conventional speaker cone 4l 6 having 'aprotc'tirig coneY I8 spaced froni` the outer surface is mounted in thehousing. Thesections of thefhosingfare secured .together with screws "or bolts l2|] which are threadedinto lues 22, and the-frangia' Wiring diagrani the secured in the housing with b'olts`24. 1 Y

Thefront ofthe housing is provided with h lzntally 'disposed slots 26 which arepositioned between louvers 2,8 which areinclined outwardly to preventrain; snow and the like 'entering thev interior of the-cone opening.- L Y 'L' They frame I4 is 'provided with'v a vilange '3,11 through '-Whichthe -bolts 2'4`y extend f and17 insidev v42 whichV forms a hinge and expansion grooves 44 are formed in the intermediate part. A similar hinge ridge 46 is provided in the cone I8 and spaced expansion' groovesl in the intermediateT part are positioned to correspond'with the grooves 44 of the cone I6 whereby a sympathetic series of vibrations are provided in the cone i8 which are responsive. to vibrations yoi? the cone I6.

A sleeve 50, extended from the center of the y cone I6, is positioned over aniron core-552 of the speaker mechanism which ismounted in a frame 54 that is C-shape in cross section, and that is carried by the frame' I4. The core 52 extends from a permanent magnet 56, and a wire coil 58, which forms the voice coil, is positioned over the sleeve 56 to which it is secured by shellac orfthe like. The core52 and magneti 56 are'.se cured in the frame-54 with acollar v6Ilfwhi'ch is'iZ-'shaped in cross section and-the bodyportion of this collar vextendsover the inner end of the voice coilfas shown. vI'he collar 6i) is of'nonmagnetic materialand oneend abuts 'an-annular rim62'1of the-:magneti56 with the lopposite end against-theinnerend wall' of the frame 54.

'S'Ihesleeve 50; which extends fromlthecone I6, is retained in spaced relation to the' frames I4 andlwith apaper pulp washer/64 having a corrugated contour and cross section to permit sliding movement of the :sleeve in relationl 4tot the frame, andthe washer is secured' in an annular recessl infa hubl 'in'theiframe' I4, asshown. ff

The inner edge' Yof-v the washer is secured, preferably by cementing, tothe sleeve,v andthe outer edge is secured in a similar manner in the hub 66 of the iframev I4. The waslierili isconventional, being used inspeakers of this type'where a single cone'is'used.

The opening at'thecenter of the coneV i6 is closedby a'disc 68 that may be integral with' the cone-or secured to the cone by suitable means. and this disc vis spacedv from and parallel to ailat surfacel at'the center'of the cone i8. Thelarea betweerrthe cones is sealed'providingadead air space, however, with the cone IB held only by the ring 40,' this 4cone may readily be" removed' and replaced.

AS illustrated inigure` 4, thevoicecoil 58 is connected bya Wire'IZ toa rheostat switch' 14, the opposite terminal of which is connected'by a wire 16 toithe secondary winding 16 of a transformenand the opposite endV of the winding 1B is connected to the coil 'wi'tha wire 86. TheV primary winding of the Vtransformer is connected bywires 84'and`86 to'a suitable source of modulatedelectrical' energy as"`desired and ina conventionalmanner.

:In: operation; the conventional speaker cone' i6 lsfvibrated by 'signals' or impulsesl from the voice coil andrnagn'et and these vibrations areitrans-v ferred or transmitted'to' thefprotecting cone-I8 through the dead air space' causing' .sound to Vbe em'itted'in the usual manner. The cone I6 being formed` of wood pulp or compressedpaper pulp is susceptible to absorbing moisture andcontinuous moistening .and drying out resultsv distortion which. causes .the voice :coil to Hbe :moved-out of axial alignment with respect to the axis of the core 52 with the result that imperfect sound Waves are produced thereby. With the cone I6 protected by the cone I8, it is not subjected to atmospheric changes and substantially perfect alignment of the voice coil wit-h the core is maintained. Distortion of the outer cone, which is not connected to the core is not so important. however, as the outer cone is not directly connected to the voice coil and magnet, it may readily be removed and replaced without taking the 4'entire speakerunit apart.

'From' theforegoing description it is thought to be obvious that an electrically actuated speaker lconstructed in accordance with my invention is :particularly-well' adapted for use by reason of the :convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will also be obvious thatmyinvention is susceptible of some change and .modification without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this rea- ;.son;12do not wishto be understood as limiting myself. to the precise arrangement and formation of' the several parts herein shown in carrying out r my invention in practice, except as claimed. l,

What is claimed is:

V1.1In-a receiver speaker cone unit, the combinationwhich comprises a magnetic'cylindrical core, a Voice'coil sleeve concentric therewith, an inner-speaker cone integral with and extended from one end of said sleeve, a 'disc providing a closurefor thecenterofisaidspeaker cone, said speakercone having aniannular ila-nge extended from the periphery andsaid 'flange beingpo`si tioned in a plane perpendicular to the axis f the cone and sleeve, :a'substantially conical-shaped frame'having spaced openings thereinrrspaced fromand extended over said speaker cone,.the wall of said frame being parallelto the corresponding wall of the speaker cone, said' frame having a hub positioned on the Asleeveof y.the speaker cone and having a peripheral rim with aniannular 'recess therein in which the iiange of'the'speaker cone is positioned, a protecting cone'closedzatthecenter and having. an annular iiange in said annular recess of the rim oflthe frame.' an annular spacing washer positionedbetween the anges of the protecting cone v.and speaker cone,- andan annular ringpositionedin the recess of the rim of Ythe'framerand against the` fiange of the protecting icone. retaining .the cones inftherecess .andrin sealed relation, Ysaid protecting and speaker cones having spaced anniilar concentricgrooves therein and annular ridgesalso. concentric to the, grooves' and axis of the speakeruniasaid ridges .being positioned between 'the .walls of the. cones-and flanges thereof providinghinges vand said concentric grooves providing compensatingmeans forexpansion inthe cones.

l2., A speaker for outdoor use comprising yan innerY Vibratory speaker diaphragm carryinga voice coilasleeve; 'afmagnetic core; saidsleevebeing concentric varound said coreyan outer vibratory protective speaker diaphragm in axial alignment with said inner diaphragm, V.a sealed= ,dead-air space. ,intermediate said .diaphragma said youterdiaphragm being exposed to vatmosphere:and shielding the. forwardrface of'said Vinner dia-- phragm ,therefrom,.said outer diaphragm being vibratorywith said `inner diaphragm by'vir-tue of vibrations therefromV transmitted by` said- `sealed dead air space, housing means sealingly=surrounding-saiddiaphragms except' for the forward face-of saidouter. diaphragm, whereby; said inner:

5 diaphragm is sealed and protected from atmospheric moisture to prevent warping thereof, so that said voice coil sleeve is maintained in concentricity with said core.

3. A speaker as set forth in claim 2, wherein said diaphragms are conically shaped and have respective corrugations juxtaposed opposite each other in pairs, wherein each pair comprises a corrugation on each diaphragm.

ILO M. BROWN.

References Cited in the 111e of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 1,870,417 0 2,269,284 2,346,226 2,433,250 2,567,365

Number Name Date Mallina Aug. 9, 1932 Olson Jan. 6, 1942 Marlow Apr. 11, 1944 Weibler Dec. 23, 1947 Dalton Sept. 11, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Feb. 19, 1929 Great Britain Oct. 25, 1948 

